Egypt's swelling mass of young, educated, and enlightened graduates are now working on changing the future of a nation byte by byte, not just brick by brick.

And embracing the principles of the revolution, many of their start-ups are using this idea of collaboration, and the power of the crowd, to make it happen.

Local networking

For at least one start-up, the story begins amongst millions of protestors in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

"The government had just cut off all internet and communication networks around the nation," recalls Mohammad Omara, who has spent years designing semiconductor chips for companies around the globe.

The ability to rapidly spread information, a backbone of the revolution, was in jeopardy.

"I started thinking of a solution to get people connected," he says.

His answer? Bluetooth - a technology available in nearly all phones, PCs, and other devices that wirelessly exchanges data over short distances.

Effective networking: Finding a way to extend the reach of Bluetooth technology so that a local network could be set up in Tahrir Square during communications blackouts inspired XoneBee's Mohammad Omara

"With wi-fi, you need to have a router somewhere, and log in," he says. "With Bluetooth, I can direct pair my mobile with you anywhere and start communicating."

The challenge of using Bluetooth to connect the crowd was two-fold.

The range is limited to just 10-20 metres - and it's typically designed for peer-to-peer connections (two devices directly communicating with each other).

He needed to find a way to both extend that to cover Tahrir Square - 75,000 square metres - and build a network.

Two years on, and XoneBee, Mr Omara's start-up, has done just that - an intelligent algorithm and application which lets Bluetooth devices 'relay' a call without decoding it.

It can be purchased as a $5 stand-alone device, extending coverage up to 300 square metres, or programmed directly into Bluetooth-enabled phones.

XoneBee is also working on an app that will allow users to make free calls using the network. The service could be used to replace local area networks like internal office phones and walkie-talkies, and even has military uses.

It may also help fix the expensive problem of network overloading, such as in extremely crowded places.

Almost 3-4% of all mobile phone calls are made by people who are geographically close to each other - at different ends of Tahrir Square, for example, says Mr Omara.

If phones have his Bluetooth algorithm installed (coupled with wi-fi and other networks) these calls could be made on a local area network, saving telecoms companies billions of dollars in infrastructure investment, says Mr Omara excitedly.

Head to head: Cairo's start-up cup is just one of the competitions and networking events that have sprung up in the country to support Egyptian entrepreneurs

XoneBee is just one example of this new culture of entrepreneurship emerging from Egypt.

The tide of optimism triggered by the revolution has transformed into a tidal wave of talented and tech-savvy engineers and programmers, determined to put Cairo on the map as a technology hub.

"We have one of the greatest collections of engineering and mobile development talent in the world," says Ahmed Alfi, chief executive of Sawari Ventures.

"What's been missing is what goes around the engineer - product, marketing, business people," he says.

Not anymore. Egypt's young engineers now have access to a highly collaborative ecosystem of co-working hubs, accelerators, incubators, mentoring and networking to support them, transforming their ideas to marketable products.

Shake it up

Instabug co-founders, Omar Gabr (left) and Moataz Soliman

Founded by a pair of 22-year-old Cairo University graduates, Instabug is another collaboration-driven start-up.

Developers need feedback on their apps, but it's often a pain for users to report bugs. Few will actually send an email, or leave a comment on a social media page.

With one line of code, and in less than a minute, Instabug's bug reporting feature can be added to any application - a feedback form activated by simply shaking the phone.

"When you're angry at an app, what's the first thing you think of doing?" asks co-founder Moataz Soliman.

Duly noted: Instabug lets users annotate screenshots of the faulty app, to help developers to fix the problem

"You shake it!" he replies. "It's a completely natural reaction!"

Instabug automatically captures a screenshot, and records information about the phone and the console log, text files that show developers the state of the app.

Users can draw on the screen, make comments, and send it directly to the developer, all without having to leave the original application.

Developers then access the full bug report in real time from the content management system.

Dani Arnaout, a developer and member of the tutorial team at Raywenderlich (a platform for tutorials on iOS development), says Instabug's solution is amazingly simple, and solves an enormous problem in the developer community.